


Pet Stores, Kittens, and Other Comforting Objects

by kksunflowerbaby



Category: Criminal Minds (US TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Pet Store, Cute, Cute Ending, Eventual Romance, F/M, First Meetings, Garcia loves you, Gen, Meet-Cute, Overprotective Derek, Penelope Garcia - Freeform, Pet Store, Reader-Insert, Reader-Interactive, Romance, Sad Spencer Reid, Sad with a Happy Ending, Slow Build, Spencer Reid is a cutie
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-24
Updated: 2020-05-24
Packaged: 2021-03-02 02:02:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,820
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23817358
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kksunflowerbaby/pseuds/kksunflowerbaby
Summary: ‘I work at a pet shop and everyday you come in on your way to work and pet every single animal here you are the purest soul™ I’m so in love’ auSpencer Reid pets cats and dogs to take his mind off of things and you want him to be happy as much as possible.
Relationships: Spencer Reid/Reader, Spencer Reid/You
Comments: 40
Kudos: 319





	1. His Name is Felony

You love your job. When your aunt had called you five years ago, begging you to take over the pet store she had run for years prior because she wanted to retire with your uncle and live in the mountains of Colorado, you had obliged. 

Now, you run one of the most favored pet stores in the Quantico, Virginia area. It had been hard work, but damn are you proud of yourself. You and your three employees had brought up the standards that were already high from when your aunt was running the show. 

You have a good variety of different pets and knowledgable about all of them so that you can answer any and all questions that might be brought up. Every morning, you woke up looking forward to feeding the cats and dogs and checking in on the reptiles and fish. Every one of them has a name and is cared for. You even screen the people adopting the pets to make sure that they’re going to proper, caring homes. 

It’s easy to say that you take your job seriously. You work hard and make sure that everyone is taken care of. This quality has ingrained a sixth sense for knowing when someone or something needs help or some more care. 

On Monday morning, just after opening, you were petting one of the kittens that had wandered away from his siblings in the display pen. You hear the front door open, making the small silver bell tinkle.

You look up from the kitten, a bright smile already on your face as you turn to the new customer.

He is tall, has brown eyes, and short brown hair. He’s a bit on the thin side, but you don’t mind. Your first thought is that he’s attractive. Your second thought is that he might be more of a dog person. 

“Hi,” you say, cuddling the small kitten to your chest. “How may I help you?”

It’s barely eight in the morning, but the man looks more tired than he should for this early hour. There are dark circles under his eyes and your internal radar screams that he needs comfort of some sort. 

You don’t think as you offer the kitten to him. “Do you want to pet him? His name is Felony.”

“Felony?” The man cracks a smile at the unusual—no, we’ll call it what it is: bizarre—name. He reaches out and takes the small tabby in his arms, securing the kitten against his chest. You can tell that his touch is gentile but the hold on the small animal is firm enough that he won’t go anywhere. 

“Long story, but basically the big mom, the cat who had this litter, is named Arson because she was born into a litter that had to have names that start with A,” you explain, chuckling. “This litter is her first, and the owner wanted to keep up with the theme, but didn’t stick with the rule of lettering the litter.  


“Arson was already a strange name, so Bill—the owner—said, ‘Fuck it, I’m going all in,’ and named the litter after different crimes. We have Felony, Battery, Larceny, Vandalism, Obstruction of Justice, and, my personal favorite: Tax Evasion. We mostly call him Big T, though.”

The whole time that you ramble, the man strokes Felony while listening in shocked silence. His jaw drops a little, and you blush. 

“Sorry, that’s a lot of useless information at eight in the morning,” you murmur, looking anywhere except his brilliant eyes. 

“I…I actually think that’s hilarious,” the man says. He shifts his weight before saying, “I actually work for the FBI, so that’s…strangely on-brand for me.”

You can’t hold back the laugh that escapes you as he reveals his profession. “You’re joking.”

Cradling Felony in one hand, he pulls out a badge with very official information printed on it. 

“You’re not joking.”

He shakes his head and goes back to petting Felony with his other hand after putting away the badge. 

You blink. “I want you to know that Bill has never committed any crimes; he just has a weird sense of humor.”

He laughs. “No worries, I was just thrown off the erratic names. I’ve heard some weird ones, but that was…new.”

“I’m (Name),” you say, introducing yourself to the FBI agent.

“Dr. Spencer Reid,” the agent replies, smiling slightly. 

“Well, Dr. Reid, what brings you to the best pet shop in Quantico at eight am on a Monday?” You ask, wanting to help him. 

Spencer doesn’t answer for a moment, he just scratches behind Felony’s ears absentmindedly. You can hear the tabby purring from where you stood. 

You look him up and down quickly. There’s no pet hair around the ankles of his pants, so he doesn’t have cats or dogs. He might have a reptile, or he might be a new owner. But new owners don’t usually come in at this time—no, no one really comes in at this time. You come mostly for the benefit of the animals and the few customers who are early risers. 

But he looks too tired to be an early riser, unless he had risen at two am that morning. 

He’s still silent, and you don’t pry an answer from him. You’ve had days where the only thing you wanted to do was pet some fluffy animal and distract yourself from whatever was bothering you. Could that be what he was doing?

“Spencer,” you say quietly, so as not to disturb him if he is deep in thought, “would you like to sit and pet Felony for a while? I have some maintenance to do, but I’m sure he would love it if he could have some company.”

For a moment, you don’t think he had heard you. And then, “Thank you, (Name). I will do that.”

You procure a chair from the back and let him sit down, watching how he carefully cradles the kitten. You can tell that he will be gentile and mindful with him, so you go about your daily chores of mornings at the pet shop. 

You sweep, switch out the newspapers in the birdcages, feed the dogs and pet each one, whispering positive things in their ears, clean the cat display pens, and check in on the reptiles. You hum to yourself as you work, mostly because you don’t like playing music over the speaker system of the store. Some of the animals don’t like it as much. 

Every so often, you look over at the FBI agent out of the corner of your eye. He doesn’t move much, except to accommodate Felony as he wriggles about on his lap. The expression on the man’s face is soft, like he’s focusing all of his energy on the cat and it’s the most pure thing in the world. 

After you’re finished with everything you needed to complete, you go to the display pen for kittens and scoop up Tax Evasion. 

He’s on the smaller side, but you adore him all the same. You move to stand near the chair Spencer is occupying, and the two cats look at each other in interest. After a moment, each cat goes back to enjoying the people petting them. 

“Thank you,” Spencer says softly. “I…I know that it’s weird to do this, but I appreciate you letting me hold Felony. Thank you for understanding.”

“Of course, Dr. Reid—”

“Please, call me Spencer.”

You smile and correct yourself. “Of course, Spencer. I’ve had off days and know how they feel. I won’t ask you about it unless you want to talk about it, but if you ever don’t want to talk, you’re welcome to come and pet Felony and I won’t listen.”

He gives a half smile. “I’ll definitely take you up on that offer.”

You glance at the clock. Almost an hour has passed since you put Felony in his care and the cat looks pleased to be scratched and petted for that time. Spencer follows your line of sight and sees the time. 

“Oh, I have to get to work,” he mutters quickly, standing but cradling Felony tightly. He walks to the front of the store and deposits the tabby in the display pen. 

Before he leaves, he turns and faces you. “I meant what I said, (Name). I really appreciate this and I’ll be back to not talk and have you not listen.”

You grin. “You’re welcome back anytime.”

He leaves, and you are left holding Tax Evasion and watching him go. Dr. Spencer Reid is intriguing to you. He barely spoke, but you’re interested in his character. He looked young, but he spoke with an air of knowing what he was doing. And he’s an FBI agent with a badge and everything. 

You wonder what he must have been going through to hold a kitten for almost an hour before coming back down to Earth. You hope he comes back soon, but not because he’s sad and wants to pet cats or dogs. 

You simply want to see him again.


	2. 9:03am

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Spencer's POV. Garcia learns more and makes a decision.

Spencer enters the office three minutes past nine, which is more than enough to have all of his coworkers waiting at his desk. Derek Morgan is sitting in his chair while JJ and Prentiss are sitting on the respective corners of his desk. 

Garcia is hovering near her chocolate thunder, but brightens the moment she lays eyes on Reid. She claps excitedly, drawing the attention of everyone near her. 

“My genius doctor, why are you late!?” 

Spencer grimaces, hoping it would pass for a smile. He was hoping that his coworkers wouldn’t ask where he had been, he wanted to hold on to the small, private joy he had felt when he had held Felony. It had been a moment when he wasn’t thinking. He misses it already.

“I stopped by a shop on my way in and lost track of time,” he answers honestly. He knows better than to try to lie to his coworkers. They would know in a heartbeat. 

Thankfully, they accept the answer as enough and they all move to their separate desks. Spencer takes a seat at his. They all work on paperwork from their case from the week before.

Spencer blows through his quickly due to his ability to read a great amount of words in a small amount of time. He stands and drops off the paperwork and decides to visit Garcia on his way back. 

“Hey, Garcia,” he says once he gets to her office, letting her know he was there.

“Hey, genius,” she replies, not even looking away from her monitors. “What brings you to my lair?”

“I met a cat named Felony this morning,” he says. 

The absolute lack of context is what piques Penelope’s interest, and she drags her eyes away from the screens. She focuses on the man in front of her. “You met a cat named _what_?”

“Felony. There were other kittens, too, their names were Battery, Vandalism, Larceny, Obstruction of Justice, and Tax Evasion.” 

Garcia’s mouth is open when he’s done listing the names.

“Where did you meet these glorious kittens?”

“A pet shop, on Fifth. I went in because I saw a sign in the window about puppies and kittens and I just wanted to pet them,” Spencer admits. “It was nice, I didn’t think about anything in particular while petting him, and it was a good break.”

Garcia nods. She knows about his lack of sleep (everyone who has eyesight does, actually; the bags under his eyes are enormous) and thinks to herself how happy she is that he had that moment of peace that morning. 

“And this woman who was running the shop,” he continues. “She took one look at me and handed me the kitten. It’s like she knew I needed it.”

“I’ve known some pet store owners,” Garcia nods. “They have, like, a sixth sense about that kind of stuff.”

“I didn’t even say anything,” he says, still a bit in wonderment as to how she had known. 

“We all have our superpowers, baby,” she says. “Hers might be knowing how to take care of you. What did she look like?”

Spencer blushes involuntarily. “She’s a few years younger than me, I think. (Hair color), and really nice smile. She just seems…warm.”

“You should find out,” Garcia suggests, not even trying to hide the intention of her statement. 

His blush deepens. “I…”

“Don’t say anything, sugar,” she says, waving her hand in the air. “You felt peace there, with the kitten? Keep going, if you can. Opportunities like that don’t come around every day.”

Spencer nods. He turns to leave, thanking her for everything, and goes back to his desk. 

Garcia watches him go. She had seen his expression. He thinks the girl from the pet store is cute. And she is going to do everything in her power to make them get together.

She sends off a few texts, recruiting everyone who is going to help her. She is going to make the doctor happy, even if it’s the last thing she ever does.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another chapter! I like this prompt a lot. I'll switch off between POVs for some range!!


	3. You Have Got To Be Dunkin' My Donuts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Reader POV. You meet some unexpected friends and see the young doctor again.

Spencer Reid continues to cross your mind throughout the day. His delighted face at Felony’s purrs while he pet him is the main highlight. And you could tell that he felt better after holding the cat because he had lost track of time and had almost been late to work. You have had loads of days where you needed to hold a small animal to feel better. 

Idly, you wonder what had been bothering him. You had meant it when you had said you wouldn’t ask, but it doesn’t keep you from being a bit curious. 

The rest of the day passes by. You help a boy around fourteen pick out the perfect gecko (with the approval and help of his father, of course). You change all the water dishes for all of the pets and catch up on some bookkeeping. 

Monday is always the slowest day of the week. Thursday, Friday, and Saturday are normally the best, albeit the days where you don’t get the time to really check in on each and every animal under your care. 

Just as you are thinking of closing the shop up a bit early, the bell at the front rings. You look up from the computer monitor next to the register and smile at the new customer.

She has dark hair and dark lipstick. The most disarming part of her appearance is the intelligence in her gaze as she surveys the front part of the pet store. 

“So, you’re the one who made an impression on the impressionable young doctor,” she says in lieu of a greeting. 

The only reason you feel like you might know what she’s talking about is the _doctor_ in her statement. 

“Are…are you a friend of Spencer’s?” You ask hesitantly. 

She nods once, quickly. “I am. I just wanted to see you.”

You smile. “So he talked about me?”

She narrows her eyes. “Yes, he did. And I wanted to make sure he was talking about someone worth talking about.”

_A bit overprotective, but means well_ , you think to yourself. 

“I just wanted to help this morning,” you explain. “I’d seen an expression like the one he was wearing before and handed him a kitten to help cheer him up.”

“It worked,” the strange woman replies. “And I also wanted to thank you.”

“I help who I can,” you answer honestly. “I’m glad I could help him.”

The woman seems to assess you for a moment. “I said what I came to say. Thank you, again.”

With that, she’s gone. You sit for a moment, baffled. What had just happened? Did Spencer tell her exactly where to find you? Why would she come in to make sure you were worth talking about?

Your curiosity increases tenfold. There’s something about Dr. Spencer Reid.

Spencer doesn’t come in the next morning. Neither do any of his “friends.” 

You continue on with your regular duties, chatting with one of your employees and friends, Leo. He’s a bit younger, but full of life and laughter. He brightens up the atmosphere by one hundred percent every day that he works. 

On Wednesday, Spencer doesn’t come in. You figure he’s busy with work or managed to solve whatever problem he had that had driven you to place Felony in his arms. You had hoped to see him again, but you were happy for him if he found the solution to his problem. 

Later that day, as you’re brushing some hay out of the bunny pen, you hear the tickle of the front door. It’s not a regular, and it’s not Spencer.

It’s a handsome man with dark skin and a bald head. He’s taking off his sunglasses and tucking them into his suit jacket when you turn to fully greet him. 

“Hi, how many I help you?” You ask, ever the pet store owner. 

“I’m Derek,” the man says, introducing himself. 

“I’m (Name),” you reply, smiling at him. 

“Do you have any cats named after crimes?” 

There are three things that run through your mind. Spencer is the only person you have told the names of the kittens in the display pen. The owner had dropped them off on Sunday, hours before Spencer had seen them in the morning. In the two and a half days since then, you haven’t mentioned their names to anyone besides your employees.

“Another friend of Spencer’s?” You ask, tilting your head to the side and smiling broadly. 

“You caught me,” he says smoothly, grinning. He’s attractive, no doubt about that, but the young doctor is definitely more your style. “What gave it away?”

“He’s the only person outside of the employees here who knows their names,” you reply. “Oh, and your FBI badge hanging on your belt.”

He glances down and sees that it is indeed looped onto his belt, out for you to see. “You’re funny.”

“I do stand up on weekends,” you joke. 

“Prentiss didn’t say that you were funny,” he chuckles. He must be referring to the dark-haired woman who had stopped by the pet store two days earlier. 

“She didn’t tell me that more agents would be stopping by,” you say without any heat in your tone. “Can I show you any potential animals? Or did you just want to…meet me?”

Derek smiles softly. “I would love to have a pet, but my job requires me to be able to drop everything for potentially weeks at a time. Pets don’t really fit into that picture.”

_That would explain why you didn’t see Spencer or his friends for a day and a half, maybe they were working a case?_

“I understand, and thank you for being responsible with understanding that,” you say. “There are loads of people who don’t think like that and the pet doesn’t have the best home.”

Derek nods. “I had to make that choice a long time ago. But thank you, for the offer.”

He turns, ready to leave despite being in the pet shop for such a short time, and calls over his shoulder, “I’ll see you around.”

“How many more of you are there?” You call back, laughing.

He chuckles and says, “Only for a few more.”

And he was right. Over the next couple of days, you meet a smiling blonde who said her name was JJ, a stoic man named Hotch, a bubbly blonde who you loved immediately who went by Garcia, and a man named Rossi.

Every time a new person came in, they would say something cryptic and you would know they were friends of Spencer’s. But you never saw the young doctor with their visits. You had stopped hoping to see him, figuring he was busy or didn’t need to pet Felony anymore. 

Until the following Tuesday. 

It’s early, just a few minutes after eight. The door tinkles with a new customer, but you don’t look up for a moment. Your arms are full of bunnies, actually. You’re focused on putting them down in the freshly cleaned case more than the new person. 

“Hey, (Name),” the customer says. 

You turn, a wide grin already on your face. “Hiya, Spencer.”

He smiles back. “How’s Felony? And the other miscreants?”

“Felony missed you, I think,” you say as you lock up the bunny cage and move towards the kitten pen. As if he knew who was there, Felony is sniffing at the small gate to the pen. “Actually, I know he missed you.”

Spencer comes up to your side and peers down into the cage. “May I?”

You nod, already reaching for the opening. Once Felony is safely deposited into Spencer’s arms, you close up the cage again. 

“I actually had a question for you.”

“Oh?” Spencer sounds a bit surprised. 

“I wanted to ask why all of your friends came in over the past week and a half,” you tell him. 

The look on his face is absolutely priceless. He mirrors the expression of a deer-in-headlights perfectly. 

“Uh…” he says intelligently. “D-did they really come in?” 

You nod. “Derek, Prentiss, JJ, Rossi, Hotch, and Garcia.”

“I’m so sorry if they made you uncomfortable,” he says immediately. You can tell that he means every syllable. “I mentioned you to Garcia and she must have told the others…”

“I don’t mind,” you answer honestly. “It was nice to see how much they cared about their friend.”

Spencer smiles at that. “They’re pretty great.”

Over the next hour, you and Spencer chat idly while he pets Felony. Like before, you move around the pet shop and take care of the different chores you had for that morning. The whole time, you two are conversing and getting to know each other. 

When he leaves to go to work, you wave and debate giving him your number. But you hold back, not wanting to be too forward. What if he’s just looking for a friend or someone to chat with? You don’t want to ruin the friendship you could be building. 

You wave goodbye and return to your duties.

Unbeknownst to you, Spencer goes to work with similar thoughts running through his mind. However, as he enters the office, there’s only one thing on his brain. 

All of his teammates are standing in the bullpen near his empty desk. When he comes in through the door, they all look up and smile. 

“When exactly were you going to tell me that each of you has gone to (Name)’s pet store?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another chapter! I liked writing this one and have another idea for the next part. Leave a comment!


	4. Why Didn't You Tell Me?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Spencer confronts his coworkers. You get surprised.

Spencer faces his coworkers. Garcia, JJ, and Prentiss have the decency to look guilty after his outburst. Derek’s lips are pinched together in amusement. Hotch and Rossi are in an office, having missed Spencer’s entrance.

“Every single one of you went to her pet shop,” Spencer continues. “I only told Garcia!”

“She told me,” Prentiss admits. 

“Hey!” Garcia’s blonde hair flies as she whips her head to stare at her. “You agreed to do it!”

He watches his coworkers, his _family_ , bicker amongst themselves. As they do so, he thinks about what they had done. On their own time, they had found a way to visit (Name) while she was working and talked to her. They had gotten to know her, because she was important to him. 

“I like her, if it’s any consolation,” JJ murmurs. 

Spencer smiles. “I just wish that you hadn’t done it behind my back. I’m glad you want to get to know her; just let me know that you want to.”

All of his coworkers nod and come over to him, hugging him. Derek shakes his hand and Garcia keeps one arm wrapped around his side. 

“Don’t worry, Pretty Boy,” Derek laughs. “We all like her and approve of her.”

Even though Spencer doesn’t need their approval, he is more than happy to have it. Their opinions mean a lot to him, and having them accept her means more than he thought it would. 

“Thanks, you guys,” he says, smiling at his friends. 

Later that night, after work, he makes a stop by the pet shop. He enters and hears the familiar ring of the bell nestled atop of the door. Inside of the shop, Spencer sees someone who isn’t (Name).

“Hey, how can I help you?” The male employee asks. 

“Oh, I was…” Spencer balks. “I was looking for (Name).”

The employee smiles. “She went home. But I can help you! What are you looking for?”

Spencer smiles. 

///////

The next morning, you wake up to sunlight streaming in through your window. You yawn and glance at your phone to see what time it is. Barely past eight am, which means you are right on time for work. You dress quickly and grab you favorite breakfast before walking out the front door.

Your drive to work is brief and filled with your favorite music. You sing along with the radio, nodding your head to the beat. When you get to work, you turn off the ignition and grab your bag and head inside. 

Inside, Leo is working the register and smiles when he sees you. “Hey, boss!”

You grin at him. “Hey, Leo, how are you doing?”

“Not bad! Two customers came in last night and got some dog food, but that was it.”

You nod. You had asked him to tell you everything that had happened in the pet shop last night after you had left. You didn’t try to lie to yourself about who you had hoped would come in. 

As you think of Spencer, you turn to the cat display. There are less cats than there had been last night. You do a quick headcount and realize one is missing. 

“Where’s Felony?” You ask Leo, turning back to face him. “He was here when I left.”

“Oh, he was adopted last night,” Leo answers. 

“What!?” 

“I thought you wanted the litter to be adopted.” Leo is confused by your outburst. 

You frown. “Yeah, I do, it was just…”

Spencer had been the one to come in and pet him. He had never shown interest in any other pet or cat or anything except for Felony. If Felony isn’t here, would he stop coming? 

You had started looking forward to seeing the young doctor in the mornings. He had been quiet and sweet, but intriguing to you. You want to see more of him, but with Felony being adopted…it would be sad if you never saw him again.

The bell at the front of the store tinkles, and you turn to the door. You would recognize the messy hair anywhere. 

“Hey, (Name),” Spencer says, smiling when he sees you. 

“Hey, Spencer,” you return his smile. Your gaze drifts to the cat display pen located at the front of the shop, near where he is standing. “I’m sorry if you came in to pet Felony; I just found out he was adopted last night.”

“Oh, he did?” Spencer raises his brows. “Well, I just hope he went to a good home.”

“Me, too,” you murmur. 

“I actually came in to make a purchase,” he announces, surprising you. “Could you help me?”

“Of course!”

He tells you that he needs a toy for an animal, and you lead him to that part of the store. You show him the different brands that you offer and which ones are best for which pet. You make a recommendation and he chooses that one. 

“And I wanted to get some pet food, too,” he says. 

You show him the food section, which is ordered by pet type. “What pet are you searching for?”

“A cat,” he says, giving you a small smile. 

“Oh?” You can’t hide the surprise in your voice. 

“I adopted Felony last night.”

You feel your mouth open in shock. Blinking, you take it in. “You were the one to adopt him? Why didn’t you tell me when I first told you?”

He looks sheepish. “You looked so sad that he was adopted by someone else, I wanted to surprise you.”

“Well, you did,” you laugh. 

“I adopted Felony because he is super sweet, but also because it helped me to hold him and pet him. I liked the feeling that he gave me. I adopted him last night, but I had hoped that you would be in the store. You weren’t, so I wanted to stop by the morning and buy some supplies, but also get to tell you,” he says. “I also like the feeling I get when I’m around you. The other part of the reason why I came here was to ask you out to dinner.”

You blush, moved by his speech. 

“So, (Name), will you go out to dinner with me?” Spencer’s eyes are full of adoration and his smile is gentle. 

You don’t even think about it. “I would love that, Spencer.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's the end of this series! I thought this was so cute and it was a lot of fun to write. I hope you liked it!

**Author's Note:**

> I read this prompt and immediately had to write it. I want this to be a series, but I'm not sure yet how many chapters it will hold. Thank you for reading!
> 
> Leave a comment if you liked it, it'll make me write faster! :)


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